Emirates plan to double number of flights on Dublin-Dubai service

Middle Eastern airline Emirates plans to double the number of flights on its Dublin-Dubai route later this year to cater for growing demand for the service.

Emirates chief executive Tim Clark, who met Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the airline's headquarters in Dubai yesterday, said the number of flights is to double.

A statement from its office in the Republic confirmed the news, which it will announce formally next week.

"Emirates is keen to expand its presence in Ireland and confirms that we plan to start a second daily service to Dublin later this year," the company said.

'Growing demand'

“We believe there is a growing demand for convenient air travel connections between Dublin and Dubai and onwards to our extensive network of over 135 global destinations,” the company said.

The increase will be the second expansion of the service since it was launched two years ago this week.

In May 2012, it upgraded from a smaller craft to the Boeing 777-300ER which has capacity for 360 people.

The airline said yesterday the service has carried more than 442,000 passengers over the past two years.

Emirates employs more than 440 Irish people across the group, including 80 pilots and 266 cabin crew. Its workforce in the Republic numbers 25.